Cuba opens new embassy in Washington

Cuba's blue, red and white-starred flag was hoisted Monday at the country's embassy in Washington in a symbolic move signalling the start of a new post-Cold War era in U.S.-Cuba relations.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Published on: July 21, 2015 | Last Updated: July 21, 2015 8:18 AM CST

The Cuban flag was raised over the country's new embassy in Washington, Monday, after full diplomatic relations with the United States were restored.Andrew Harnik, The Associated Press / The Associated Press

Cuba’s blue, red and white-starred flag was hoisted Monday at the country’s embassy in Washington in a symbolic move signalling the start of a new post-Cold War era in U.S.-Cuba relations.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez presided over the flag-raising ceremony hours after full diplomatic relations with the United States were restored at the stroke of midnight, when an agreement to resume normal ties on July 20 took effect.

Earlier, without ceremony, the Cuban flag was hung in the lobby of the State Department alongside those of other countries with which the U.S. has diplomatic ties. U.S. and Cuban diplomats in Washington and Havana also noted the upgrade in social media posts.

Several hundred people gathered on the street outside the embassy, cheering as the Cuban anthem was played and three Cuban soldiers in dress uniforms stood at the base of the flagpole and raised the flag.

But there were also signs of the sore points that continue in the relationship. In remarks inside the embassy Rodriguez cited 19th-century Cuban independence leader Jose Marti, who, he noted, had paid tribute to America’s values but also warned of its “excess craving for domination.” Cuba was able to survive the past 50 years thanks to the “wise leadership of Fidel Castro,” Rodriguez said. He also slammed the U.S. for continuing to hold on to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base in Cuba, where a military prison has continued to hold terror suspects. Rodriguez said Guantanamo was a “nefarious consequence” of U.S. attempts to dominate the hemisphere.

The United States and Cuba severed diplomatic relations in 1961 and since the 1970s had been represented in each other’s capitals by limited service interests sections.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Havana Aug. 14 to preside over a flag-raising ceremony there.

Monday’s events cap a remarkable change of course in American policy toward the communist island under U.S. President Barack Obama, who has progressively loosened restrictions on travel and remittances to the island.

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